General Grievous - TCW [SOTDS] - Basic (CW10)

*The Clone Wars waves 1 and 1.5 were available at some retail stores as early as June 2010.

Within his secret lair, General Grievous stores his spare cybernetic parts to replace any that become damaged. When two Jedi infiltrate his hideout, he relishes the opportunity to duel them for their lightsabers. Injured during battle, Grievous temporarily retreats to be repaired by his medical droid.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but Hasbro seems to know when they don’t give a figure the right treatment with the first attempt. But the good news is that they do eventually go back to the drawing board and make the second (or third or fourth) attempt significantly better. Sometimes this happens quickly and sometimes not so quickly, but Hasbro didn't wait too long to update a couple of figures recently in The Clone Wars line. The very first 2008 TCW [F/S1] Yoda (No. 3) figure was essentially a statue with an action feature. It was terrible and just a few short years after its original release, it seems even more pitiful than when it was released. But Hasbro made right by that transgression and gave us 2009’s TCW [S2] Yoda (CW14), a well articulated figure with a beautiful paint job and it has since become the definitive Yoda in the line. Backing up a bit, the first 2008 TCW [F/S1] General Grievous (No. 6) was never as bad as the first Yoda, but it still had quite a few problems of his own like limited articulation and a rather static pose which nearly rendered him a movable statue at best. But once again, Hasbro went back to the drawing board and made an ultra articulated General Grievous to update the 2008 figure and not only does it have 16 points of articulation, it also has the option of interchangeable parts to recreate his battle-damaged look which is directly from scenes in the Season 1 episode Lair of Grievous from The Clone Wars television series. Another fine example of Hasbro at their best game, the execution of this figure is nothing short of spectacular. While the figure isn’t exactly 100% perfect, this will no doubt be the definitive General Grievous for quite some time. Specifically, he was battle-damaged in the legs and not the arms, so it is a little off from what it should be. It would have been nice to have him in a battle-damaged state with his legs chopped off right below the knees and not his arms. And even though we saw samples of a super-articulated General Grievous with a cape from Hasbro, this particular version comes without it.

General Grievous is a new figure from the ground up. All of his parts are in fantastic proportion with each other and the articulation is stupendous. While the plastic feels a bit flexible in spots (almost rubbery, especially in the feet), the figure is very lightweight as a whole and the figure can remain upright with little to no issues. Whether gravity will bow his legs remains to be seen, but we suspect that in warmer climates this may become an issue. It does take a little time to get his legs and knees in the perfect arrangement to prevent him from falling over, but one you get it right, he will stay that way. But if it weren’t for all of this extra articulation, collectors may have been in some trouble with this figure as we probably would have gotten very frustrated trying to stand him. Hasbro opted for a very clean paint job on General Grievous and we think it works to his advantage here. But if you’re looking to dirty him up a bit, you’re in luck because he comes with an interchangeable head and battle-damaged arms to "recreate" his encounter with the various Jedi who have injured him. His shoulder armor is removable (we suppose to continue the battle-damage option) but they really don’t stay in place that well and fall off if you bump them. We find this a little unsettling and would have wished at best that they would snap into place better. But if you are planning just to display this figure, this won’t be an issue for you at all. And lastly, his chest armor is removable and showcases his organic innards underneath. The details on this figure are very impressive and from his tiny little waist to his broad chest, Hasbro managed to capture his frame from the cartoon perfectly. This is definitely not a kids’ figure exactly; it has more for collectors than kids in our opinion. But all will certainly find a way to enjoy this wonderful upgrade of General Grievous.

General Grievous nicely towers over the rest of the figures in The Clone Wars line and he is taller than the 2008 version. And thanks to his awesome articulation, you can pose him in pretty much any way you see him in the television show. General Grievous comes with two lightsabers (blue and green), two battle damage arm attachments and an interchangeable battle-damaged head. He also comes with a die, bio/statistics card and action figure stand for the battle game Hasbro has designed with these figures. Not heavily accessorized, we think that he should have come with a droid blaster as that has been a standard accessory for this character for years now. But with all of the enhancements made to this action figure, it really is fine with us that he came as is. This new and improved General Grievous immediately eclipses and outdates the 2008 TCW [F/S1] General Grievous (No. 6) figure. While the option of having his arms split into four separate limbs is no longer available, having all of the articulation instead is really much more important. 2010 TCW General Grievous gets rid of gimmicks and replaces them with quality sculpting and articulation, things that collectors want so much more than anything else. He will no doubt be a hot selling figure and we bet that once people start realizing how much more this figure offers than the original one, it won’t be hanging on the pegs for long. But we think Hasbro has this on their radar and he may just ship in future cases as a carry-forward figure. Don't make the mistake of overlooking this as a repacked figure, but be warned he is anything but this. And excellent (and much needed) update to a classic character, General Grievous (with battle-damage) is absolutely a must-have for your collection. And he is right on time as an update was sorely needed for him in The Clone Wars line.